cake.

***UPDATE: check out stewart's comment below. apparently he was offended by my post, and felt the need to retaliate by posting pictures of his cake. he did resses pieces with nutella something awful in the middle. yup. who in the world likes chocolate in peanut butter?***

friday afternoon jeff called me from work with a little 'challenge'.

one of his coworkers challenged me to a cake contest. 

what? totally random. i have no idea how this even came up... especially since i'm not exactly the BEST baker... although i love to do it.... 

he sent me a picture and i said, 'absolutely!'

it was a nice break from the serious conversations taking place around here.

sunday night i got to baking. {just like me to put it off until the last minute, too...}

i made the melted ice cream cake from the cake mix doctor. 

it has given me success before... so i went with what i knew.

for the ice cream, i chose ben & jerry's half baked ice cream. {not the yogurt version}. 

yummo. i was lucky to get the whole pint in the cake before i ate it!

the recipe calls to make it a bundt cake... but i just split it up in two 9-inch pans. let it cool real good... and then went to town with the classic white icing. 

mini m&m's in the middle.

then i carefully placed the m&m's on top. i had a strategy. jeff kept trying to help... but he wasn't doing it carefully enough. so he took pictures. 

then i put the kit kats on the outside. they were a bit of a problem because they were slightly soft {despite being in our house for two days...} and not broken exactly straight. {ahem....}

but it worked out fine. 

jeff added some m&m's next to each of the kit kats on the edge. {can you tell that HE did it? he didn't pay attention to varying the colors.... and that drove me NUTS!!!} 

anyway.

it was yummy. or so i'm told!

jeff wisked it off to work before we cut into it. probably a good thing... or at least that's what i keep telling myself. 

{PS. i "won". not that everyone voted. but everyone ate it. i'm not trying to keep score or anything... but right now it's me-1/stewart-0}

valentine's dinner.

finally.

my dinner for the hubbs will be revealed. ha.

it was an all day process.

man, i wish every dinner could be like this. i love cooking. love it.

but it can't. maybe once a week i'll cook like this.

but the littles make it a bit hard.

in fact. on this night, in particular. we had our first {of three} coinciding, consecutive meltdowns for lil' miss & the bug. whew. just when i needed to be getting things on the skillet, etc. etc.

thankfully, the hubbs showed up right on que this night. and we put the kids to bed early.

that always works.

right?

nope. as we were enjoying our romantic dinner for two, we heard lots of jumping & squealing from his room. and finally, a door open & close. what?

turns out, the bug had found a few things that didn't "belong" in his room. charlotte's 'things'. that he had put there earlier in the day, mind you. he opened his door, threw out all the 'things' & then closed it and hopped back into bed. {he gets this OCD-ishness from his daddy, right?}

anyway. onto dinner.

i made this.

and this.

and this.

all of jeff's favorites. all i learned to cook last year after i got my PW cookbook.

whew. it.was.yummy. to say the least. i was full beyond full. and so was he. and everything was delish.

i swear, the pioneer woman makes me look like a super hero. every.single.time. except for the biscuits. i can't make the biscuits. yucky, yucky hard-as-bricks biscuits.

and then, for the finale.

creme brulee.

it's not so much that i love creme brulee, or that the hubbs loves it. 

it's just that my brother {again with the professional chef thing} gave me a kitchen torch for christams a few years ago. and i love the idea of using butane in the kitchen. don't you? so, this has been on my bucket list to do for quite sometime.

and i did it. 

and it was perfection. {with all day text-message help from the little brother, i might add}.

and that's all. it was a fabulous dinner for two {with a few interruptions}. ahhhh.... if only every dinner was like that, right?

v.day treats.

when we were iced in, i decided we should use that time to make our valentines.

i had originally planned on making your basic sugar cookie. no shame in that, right? right.

but then, while blog stalking, i stumbled upon this.

i had mini candy canes, left over from christmas. i had the little candy sticks with the intention of making cake pops a while back. i even had almond bark from good intentions back at christmas time. perfect-o!

b. started out 'helping momma'. he was in charge of the candy sticks.

it's real simple. make a heart out of two candy canes and put a 'lollipop' stick in the middle.  lay them on a cookie sheet with wax paper.

and then - the bug ended up doing this:

and this:

so, i ended up finishing them at naptime. he was uninterested in being 'neat'... and the candy canes moved around really easy, so.... yeah.  if you're really set on your kids making the valentine - then this isn't the valentine for you. {but they turn out real cute!}

the recipe calls for 'white chocolate' but i had vanilla flavored almond bark. so that's what i used. it was 'free'.

melted it in the microwave...

i poured my melted white chocolate into a ziplock bag and cut a tiny corner off so i could 'pipe' it into the 'molds' of the candy canes. {it really isn't thick enough to pipe like icing, so it more dripped.} but it didn't make near as much of a mess as i thought it would if i tried spooning it.

by the second batch, i realized that it would look best if i smoothed out the melted almond bark before putting the sprinkles on. much better. {i was going to use some crushed peppermint - but a lot of kids don't like peppermints. mine not included, so i just used sprinkles. but i think that would be VERY cute.}

i wrapped up in little treat bags and tied with some tulle and a red construction paper heart. voila! instant valentine!

on another note. i finally finished my valentine's wreath. don't worry that valentine's day is like, tomorrow. it will stay up through the end of february. i worked too hard on it for it to only be up for a few days. it took way more time to wind the yarn onto all of those styrofoam balls but it was mindless, therefore therapeutic, so i didn't mind.

i love it. except for the top. i need a ginormous red/white polka dot bow. but with all of the snow and ice, i just haven't gotten to the store for that. it'll do. until next year, and then i'll add it. {please tell me that you have things that "will do for now" too??? nope? i'm the only one? awesome.}

happy friday. our friday is busy - preparing for a busy weekend. but it's good. hoping to get a lot done today {as i sit here at my computer procrastinating....}

the best corn salad. ever.

this is the easiest, yummiest and oddest recipe ever.

but give it a chance. i promise you that it'll be worth it.

i made this for the game last night.

hmmm hmm good.

finely chop all of your veggies. a red onion, a red bell pepper and a green bell pepper.



{i've made this so many ways but i like it best with a whole medium onion and two whole bell peppers. the recipe i was sent actually calls for half but this is the ratio that i like best. also. you can really use any kind of onions and peppers you have. it's just pretty with all the different colors. and that's how i like my food. pretty.}



dump your chopped veggies in a bowl. then drain two cans of corn. preferably one can of white and one can of yellow. but again, go with whatever you have. dump the drained cans of corn into the bowl with your veggies. yummmmmm.





next, put one cup of mayo {real mayo, not miracle whip} and one tablespoon taco seasoning in a small bowl and mix well. this will be your yummy dressing.



spoon it into your bowl of veggies.

next grate one cup of cheddar cheese. i have recently become a believer in freshly grated cheese. my brother has always preached to me about how much better it is but it's always been easier to get on with the prepackaged shredded cheese. but if you aren't a believer, make sure you get the thicker shredded cheese. not the finely grated kind. it just tastes better.



dump your cheese into the bowl and mix well. cover and refrigerate until cold. {isn't it pretty???}



now. for the super secret ingredient. {this is where it gets odd}. chili cheese fritos!!!!

right before you serve the salad, start by adding a handful of fritos at a time and mixing. sometimes i want the salad crunchier and sometimes i don't add them at all.  don't be scared about how weird it sounds to put chili cheese fritos in a salad. it's sooooo good. i promise!



serve yourself a spoonful {or a bowl full} and enjoy. make double what you think you need. i promise you'll eat it ALL.

chocolate & peanut butter pie.

yes, this is just a pie, but it deserves it's very own post.

ask jeff. he agrees. he swore he'd only eat a bit of my first piece. but he probably ended up eating more than half the pie.

and what's almost as good as the way it tastes - it's SUPER DUPER easy!!!!!!!!! i promise!

i saw the recipe on my very favorite blog {sorry to all of my friends that i actually know, i absolutely adore this woman that i've never even met before. you will too. just go and see. she's awesome}.

her recipe calls for a 'pre-baked' crust. she used PW's recipe. i bought a graham cracker crust. next time i think i'll just get the pre-made dough and bake the crust. the only problem is that you have to wait for it to cool. and you won't want to. i promise.

her recipe also calls for vanilla pudding. ummm.... no. i love her, but what goes better with peanut butter crumbles than CHOCOLATE?!!!?? i mean really. doesn't everyone know that the best marriage ever in the world {besides jeff and i's!} is between chocolate & peanut butter.

this is a good place for an amen.

onto the recipe.

1 pie crust - any way you want to get it. just make sure it's cooled.
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter, the creamy kind
1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding {the big box. i used sugar free and skim milk and it was still SUPER yummy}
2 1/2 c. milk {for the pudding}
1 tub cool whip {again, used the light version - still super yummy}

combine powdered sugar and peanut butter with fork. mix until super crumbly. {you may want to try a spoonful or two of these while you're at it}.

put 3/4 of the crumbles into the bottom of the pie crust. spread around and mash down a bit.

make chocolate pudding according to package.

spread on top of crumbles.



stick in fridge until it sets a bit. then spread the entire tub of cool whip on top. sprinkle rest of peanut butter crumbles on top.

refrigerate until ready to serve. {side note - it is kind of soft so we tried putting it in the freezer. the pudding got too hard - so don't do that!}

and that's it.

super tasty... and i'm sure you can create a million versions of the same pie. but, like i said, for the leach household it MUST be peanut butter & chocolate.

make this tonight. i promise you won't be dissapointed.

summer list: ice cream sandwiches

last week i made homemade ice cream sandwiches.

they're really easy and delicious.... so much better than the store bought kind.

but NOT better than the 'big kahuna's' at the rangers games.

well, maybe.

take one cookie {homemade or those fresh storebought bakery kind}.
it needs to be kind of soft.


put a dollop of ice cream on top.

squeeze another cookie on top.

the wrap individually.


and place in a freezer bag - in the freezer. let freeze for at least an hour before serving.


editor's note: for a special version - you can roll the side of the cookies {a.k.a. ice cream} in sprinkles, candy pieces before freezing. the possibilities are endless. they look pretty and taste special.

two recipes.

recipe 1: cam's mango salsa

several people have emailed me and asked me about my mango salsa recipe. i thought i'd put it on here to share it with EVERYONE.



***note: this is just a loose adaptation from one my brother, a professional chef, made at a going away party for our friend judd. he vaguely gave me the contents {since chefs apparently don't use recipe cards} and i've tried to work it out since then. so please know - everything is really 'to taste'. start with a little of each ingredient and work your way up to what you like as you go.***

ingredients:

3-4 mangos, peeled and roughly diced {if you don't know how to cut a mango, i didn't, there are several very helpful videos on youtube. just an fyi... but i'm sure you already knew. :)}
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 orange, red, or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped {you can use a combination if you want... i like to use the pepper to add more color!!}
1-3 peppers, seeded and chopped, for heat; {i have used a habenero before but i'm warning you - start with one - and wear gloves! those suckers are hot! i've also used pablano peppers or jalapenos. it depends on what looks the freshest at the grocery store and how much heat i'm wanting. i'd maybe start with jalapenos if you aren't sure!}
squeeze of lime juice
cilantro, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste
***secret ingredient!!!!***raspberry preserves

directions:

mix mangos, half the onion and half the bell peppers in large bowl. start slowly and add the hot peppers... occasionaly tasting, with a chip to see when it gets too hot. add more onion or more bell pepper if you want. it depends on what looks right and what tastes right to you. i tend to like a 2:1 ratio of the mangos with everything else... in other words, twice the mangos as onion and twice the mangos as bell peppers. when you get it to be slightly hotter than you'd like, add some chopped cilantro, salt and pepper to taste. add a squeeze of lime juice... and to cam's dismay, mine comes out of a green squirt bottle, not a real lime! oh - the horror!!!! mix well and taste. is it tasting pretty good - maybe a little spicy? good.

here's the key - add a spoonful of raspberry preserves. i know it sounds weird but it acts as a binder and balances the heat {or so my professional chef brother has told me}. it really brings it all together. mix well. add more if it's not the consistency you want. it should look like a pretty pico de gallo. also - remember, as it sits in the refrigerator, the preserves will become a little runnier - so don't overdo it with them.

it will take a few times to get it just like you want it - but it's so yummy and perfect for summer. i make it in huge batches and it only lasts us 2 days. the hubbs AND the bug loooove it. j sometimes eats it without chips!

recipe 2: darlene's monkey bread

okay - so after i did my 'day in the life' post - i got several questions on the way i made the monkey bread. well, it's my mother-in-law's recipe, and it's easy and brady loves it. {i guess, i don't mind all the cinnamon and sugar as well.. duh!}



ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 10 oz cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

directions:

sprinkle pecans evenly in bottom of a well-greased l0-inch bundt pan. set pan aside. combine sugar and cinnamon. cut biscuits into quarters; roll each piece in sugar mixture, and layer in pan. combine brown sugar and butter; pour over dough. bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. cool bread l0 minutes in pan; invert onto serving platter.

ENJOY!!!!!!

craving update:

if you are one of the people who were interested enough to read through my entire 17 week update, or if you follow me on twitter, you know that i have a new craving. cheese balls. not cheetos. not cheese puffs. cheese balls. you know, the kind that used to come in the blue can with the yellow lid? i'd eat a whole can in one sitting in college. especially when i was doing a project.

anyway, i digress... the bottom line is that they don't make those cheese balls anymore. and apparently, any cheese balls at all are impossible to find. or so we thought!

i had so many suggestions on where to look. i think we looked everywhere. every dollar store, every office supply store, every big lots, every grocery store, wal mart, costco, etc. within a 15 mile radius. thank you to EVERYONE who gave me an idea of where to look. but let me share with you where they ARE:

a sam's club in addison.

apparently my sweet husband, who is my hero by the way - in case i haven't mentioned that before, called all the sam's in the area. not all of them carry cheese balls. not all of them have them in stock. so, on his way he went, and he surprised me with these:


hopefully they will last us longer than a week. because they are now being shared with the hubbs and the bug. {who's favorite word now is 'cheese ball'}.

made my heart {and my tummy} so super-duper happy.

yummmmm.....

for my hubby.

{I seem to be doing good on goal #13, huh? We'll see what it looks like in a month!}

Okay, so for dinner last night, I made some breaded chicken, bruschetta and then these.

Yes, another Pioneer Woman recipe {I seem to be using her cookbook as a bible lately}.

Burgundy Mushrooms.



Let's just say, I think that the Hubbs dreamed about these last night. The thing is, it makes a lot of mushrooms. As in, 2 pounds {and I halved the recipe}. That's one pound per person. Oh, but I forgot to tell you, I don't eat mushrooms. In fact, I loathe them. If it were up to me, they would be banned from cooking all together.

I have a little bit of a problem though - because the Hubbs loves them. They are his very very favorite side dish... and the really good ones, the ones I made last night, could be his favorite main dish.

So, when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it.

{How does that saying go? 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach'?}

These puppies cooked for nine hours. You heard me, nine.

They smelled so good though, I had to try one. I have to admit, they tasted really good. But it's not the flavor I don't like, it's the spongy, rubbery texture. eeeeeewww!!!!!

Anyway - if you have a mushroom lovin' hubby like I do - try this dish. Especially when you need to ask for something. I think I could have asked J. for a trip to Italy last night and he would have given it to me. I'm not kidding.

fried chicken.

you read the title right... i made fried chicken last night!

and not only did i make it, i served it to guests, AND it tasted yummy... really yummy... we were actually trying to figure out if we could just make 'fried chicken breasts' instead of getting the whole chicken... just for a treat every once in a while. it was a lot of work to get the meat off the bone - i'm not much of a fan of bone-in meats to eat.

it wasn't as hard to make as i thought it was going to be - after i got my oil to the right temperature. it just made a mess. a big mess.



this is what my kitchen looked like, after the first load of dishes were already in the dishwasher!!! {in other words, these are all the dishes that had to wait for the second load!}

oh - and p.s. i did attempt homemade biscuits and they were not as much of a success, although we all ate them. i had the hubbs taste one as soon as it came out of the oven and he said, 'well, they're not great, but they're edible!' ha. we all covered them in honey and butter though!

{my brother thinks i over-worked the dough, because i followed the recipe to a 't'. i will be trying them again - not anytime soon though... too much work for something pillsbury makes - can i get an 'amen'?}

Yet Another Treat

Okay, this is the SIMPLEST thing ever... and Jeff said it may be the best treat I've ever made. I've just always thought this would taste good, so I did it... mostly because this week I was just lazy but feeling the desire to "bake".

I bought a package of those Sweet and Salty (or whatever they're called) "granola" bars. They have almond and peanut, and maybe even another kind, but I like the peanut ones. So I bought those and cut them into thirds. Then I simply melted some Semi Sweet chocolate and dipped them in there and let them cool on wax paper. The only thing is that you've got to do it quickly because the peanut butter will kind of melt into the chocolate. Yummy!

TREAT #5 - Peanut Butter Balls!

YUMMY! This may be the best treat I've ever made! They taste like homemade Peanut Butter Cups.

**For some reason, blogger isn't letting me upload photos at the moment, so when it does, I'll add pics of this one.**

The recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, and it's SO easy.

1/2 c. Peanut Butter
3 T. butter, softened
1/4 cup rice cereal (rice crispies); Optional
1 c. Powdered sugar
6 oz. chocolate flavored candy coating, cut up

1. In a bowl, stir together peanut butter and butter. Gradually add cereal, if desired, and powdered sugar, stirring until combined. If necessary, knead with hands until smooth. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls; place on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Set aside.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, melt candy coating over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat; cool for 5 minutes. Using a fork, dip bals, one at a time, into coating, allowing excess to drip off. Return to wax paper; let stand until coating is set (about 10 minutes). Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months. If frozen, thaw at room temperature before serving.

Treat #3 - Chocolate Cream Cheese Truffles

These were especially good, and of course have endless possibilities but they required a little trial and error on my part. The first few that I tried, the chocolate wasn't hard enough so they ended up kind of flattening out on me. Then I put the chocolate in the freezer for 30 minutes or so and went back to it and they did much better.

I dipped mine in white chocolate - and I wouldn't recommend it, at least not on the first try. The chocolate in the truffle kind of melted when I 'quickly' dipped it in the white chocolate and then it would get kind of gritty and messy. I think if you dipped it in regular chocolate or even dark chocolate it wouldn't make as much of a difference. The ones that I did in the Cocoa Powder like the recipe calls for are definitely not as good as the ones dipped in the chocolate bark.

Also... one other change I made, is that I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of unsweetened. I've had bad experiences with unsweetened in the past where it turned out kind of bitter, even after adding all the sugar. So I was worried that they may turn out too sweet, but that wasn't the case. I just only used 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar instead of 3 1/2.

Enjoy! (Sorry so many pictures, I got a little carried away!)

Ingredients:

3.5 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces softened cream cheese
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup cocoa powder, for rolling
Preparation:

1. Pour the cocoa powder into a shallow pie pan and set aside.

2. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and microwave it until melted, stirring after every 45 seconds to prevent overheating. Set the chocolate aside.

3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar. Beat the mixture on medium speed for a minute or two, until well-combined.

4. Stop the mixer and add the melted chocolate. Beat until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover it with cling wrap, and refrigerate until the candy is firm enough to scoop, about 20-30 minutes. (I put my in the freezer because the first time it wasn't hard enough).

6. Once the candy is firm but not hard, scoop it into small balls using a teaspoon or candy scoop. Roll the balls in the cocoa powder and place on a plate or into an airtight container. When stored properly in the refrigerator, these truffles will keep for up to a week. For best taste and texture, serve these truffles at room temperature.